


Throw that Fish Back

by Romiress



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics)
Genre: Gen, MerMay, Merman!Slade Wilson, Park Ranger!Bruce Wayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23976181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romiress/pseuds/Romiress
Summary: A very, very brief Slade and Bruce MerMay oneshot.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 85





	Throw that Fish Back

Bruce really doesn't know what's so hard about following the rules. They've gone out of their way to make fishing and hunting regulations as clear as humanly possible, and yet some people still can't be bothered. The area he's working is supposed to be safe and protected during spawning season, the streams filled with salmon, and catching them is like...

Well, like shooting fish in a barrel, which is exactly what some people are doing.

Bruce has already fined, revoked the licenses of, and escorted four people out of the park and it's not even 9AM, so when he catches someone speeding away from the river, he knows they're up to no good. Ten minutes later he manages to force them to stop, irritated and ready to lay down the law.

Right up until he finds _why_ they were on the run.

The back seat of their car is a large plastic cooler filled to the brim with water, and peeking out from it is... is a kid.

There's no question that they're not a human, because the kid is so tiny they make human babies look oversized. They're not even as large of Bruce's hand, and when he leans in the little thing pulls away and dives down into the cooler.

Not like it has far to go. It's easy for Bruce to lean over, examining the grey tail. A mermaid, only rather than a fully grown busty woman they're barely the size of a beanbag. Their hair isn't quite hair, almost like a yellow-green seaweed, but the fish part of them is mostly grey. They're definitely not anything Bruce has ever seen before, and watching it swim around in distress is... upsetting.

It's the only reason he lets the men off.

He takes the cooler itself, contents and all, and goes home. He's having a hard time processing what he's even seeing, unable to push his brain past _there is a baby mermaid in a cooler._

Baby mermaid means an adult mermaid. Probably more than one. He knows where they got it, but the idea of _mermaids_ living in the river seems hard to wrap his head around.

But what he should be doing seems clear enough. He tries to make the kid comfortable as best he can that night: he makes sure the water is clean and gives him little scraps of fish, cut down to be small enough for him to easily eat. He's carnivorous, like Bruce guessed, and he splashes at the water for attention any time Bruce leaves his sight.

It's a strange, confusing evening, to say the least.

He's extra careful as he transport the tiny fish (it's a lot easier for him to just think of them as a _fish,_ but they've shown clear signs of intelligence that throw Bruce for a loop) back to the park the following morning. An animal taken from its environment needs to be returned where it was taken, which is the plan right up until he rolls into work, the cooler lid _mostly_ shut (the little baby is peeking out and Bruce really, _really_ wishes he wouldn't) and hears the news.

"Boss doesn't want anyone on the water today," one of his coworkers says as Bruce flashes his badge at the gate.

"And why's that?" Bruce has some theories, but he keeps them firmly to himself.

"Something broke White's boat in half right near the bend. Boss thinks it might be a really, really big alligator or something."

Bruce makes a face. They don't _get_ alligators out there. Certainly not big ones.

"Tore it right in half, too. You should see it, the whole thing is a great big mess. Boss wants everyone to be careful."

"I got it," Bruce says, waving his hand. "I'll be careful."

He isn't going to be careful. He drives his car down to the lot and does what he can to reassure the tiny creature inside the cooler before hefting it and heading towards the river. It's heavy with all the water, and he's sure he's scaring the poor thing, but there aren't a lot of other options. He can't use the boat ramp without attracting attention, so instead he opts to go over land towards the bend where the boat was damaged.

He has a pretty good idea of what's going on, after all. If mermaids do exist—and he's got a literal cooler full of evidence that they do—then they have to be pretty smart to not have been found. Smart enough to hopefully find their way home.

Ignoring the sound advice of his coworker, Bruce pulls on his waders, grabs the cooler, and heads down to the riverbank. The bend is a popular spot because of it's large bank, which makes wading in that much easier as Bruce pulls the lid off the cooler.

"Alright, kiddo," he says, feeling stupider every word. "I don't know what's waiting for you in there but if you could tell people it was all a big misunderstanding, that'd be nice." He's hoping they'll move on. He's hoping they're not going to stick around the park where they're likely to be caught.

Or maybe he's an idiot and they've been there all along.

He's careful as he bends down, gently upending the cooler into the river and letting the little thing swim out into the river. They seem perfectly at home there, and apparently just for fun decide to swim a circle around Bruce's feet.

"...Small..." He mutters to himself a half second before disaster strikes.

Something grabs his ankle and pulls. Bruce is used to standing up despite the current of the river, but there's nothing natural about a hand on his ankle, and the amount of strength is too much for him. He goes down in the shallows, dunking briefly underwater, and then feels himself get jerked deeper. He gets barely half a breath before he's pulled under, the freezing water almost overwhelming.

All he can feel is the cold and the hand on his ankle as he's dragged down.

He knows what to do if there's an alligator. He knows how to handle a shark. But something with a _hand_ is beyond any training he's ever received. He can't punch it in the nose because he can't possibly _reach_ the nose. He's not even sure it has a face. He doesn't—

The hand on his ankle releases him, and something grabs the back of his shirt, pulling him again. Bruce doesn't even realize he's being hauled _up_ until he breaks the surface, choking and spluttering. He doesn't even have the composure to try and swim for shore as he gags and wretches, trying to clear the water from his lungs.

He makes it to the shore somehow anyway. Lying on the bank, soaked and still trying to clear the water from his lungs is the worst he's felt in months, and when he cracks an eye open and finds a face staring at him from the river he's far from encouraged.

It's a man, or at least _probably_ a man. The face is humanoid enough, with a deep scar running across his face. His expression is undeniably angry, his mouth twisted into a snarl.

The last thing Bruce expects is for the mer to speak to him, but speak he does.

"Consider yourself lucky."

Without another word, he vanishes beneath the waves, leaving Bruce alone on the bank wondering just what he did wrong.


End file.
